Bush AG Alberto Gonzales: I didn’t subpoena on leak

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Wednesday that the Bush administration once considered issuing the type of subpoena that the Justice Department issued against the Associated Press, but ultimately opted against it.

“There was at least one occasion in which we were engaged in a very serious leak investigation and we had to make some very difficult choices about whether or not to move forward, going after the reporters in order to try to figure out where the source of the leak is,” he said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe. “And sometimes, the department finds itself in a situation where they have exhausted all means and they have to make a very hard determination as to whether or not they want to subpoena the reporter, if they want to subpoena the reporter’s notes. So yes, I’ve had that situation. In the instance that I have in mind, we ultimately decided not to move forward.”

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While other administrations have subpoenaed reporters’ phone records in the past, the Associated Press subpoena has caused widespread outrage because of its breadth. The subpoena, issued as part of an investigation into who leaked information about a successful CIA operation in Yemen, covered three AP offices and phones used by more than 100 reporters.

Gonzales also said he believes it would be OK if the Justice Department had informed the White House before issuing the subpoena, provided the White House wasn’t given the opportunity to interfere with the investigation. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has said President Barack Obama and other officials didn’t know about the subpoena before it was issued.

“It would surprise me that the White House would not have received some type of heads-up,” Gonzales said. “‘Hey, we’re about to do this, there’s going to be some type of negative reaction.’”

Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday he had recused himself from the case because the FBI had interviewed him as part of their investigation. Justice Department guidelines say the Attorney General needs to sign off any subpoena of news media records, and the subpoena can only come after all other options are exhausted.